Sugaring
Posted March 2018 in Documentary Photography, Significant Photographers
“Of all that long season of snow, I remember most pleasantly the days that were sweetened with the sugar-making. When the sun was lifting his course in the clearing sky, and March had got the temper of the lamb, and the frozen pulses of the forest had begun to stir, the great kettle was mounted in the yard and all gave a hand to the washing of spouts and buckets.

Then came tapping time, in which I helped carry the buckets and tasted the sweet flow that followed the auger’s wound. The woods were merry with our shouts, and, shortly, one could hear the heart-beat of the maples in the sounding bucket. It was the reveille of spring. Towering trees shook down the gathered storms of snow and felt for the sunlight. The arch and shanty were repaired, the great iron kettle was scoured and lifted to its place, and then came the boiling. It was a great, an inestimable privilege to sit on the robes of faded fur, in the shanty, and hear the fire roaring under the kettle and smell the sweet odor of the boiling sap.” - Irving Bacheller, from Eben Holden (1.)

1. Eben Holden: Chapter VIII: Boston, Lothrop Publishing Company: 1903: p. 95
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2018 at 12:28pm and is filed under Documentary Photography, Significant Photographers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.